First Aid Corps

A Colonie father was thankful Monday night for all the people who saved his 11-year-old boy’s life.

The young boy’s heart stopped after he was struck in the chest by a pitch during a little league game Monday night.

As we understand from the boy’s father his son is recovering at Albany Medical Center. He says he’s going to be just fine. Things could have been much worse if it were not for the quick action of the Colonie Little League.

“I just want to thank the coaches from Colonie little league,” said Mark Mendrick.

Words alone cannot express how he feels about the people who rushed to his son’s aid when the boy collapsed on the little league field at Cook Park in Colonie Monday night.

His 11-year-old boy went into cardiac arrest after he was hit in the chest by pitch during a little league game.

Prevratil, who also was the coach of the other team, was the first to begin CPR.

“There was no panic from anyone, no hysteria,” Prevratil said. “Everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do.”

The boy’s coach, Mike Martin, bolted from the dugout and realized the boy was having trouble breathing, Prevratil said.

When Prevratil saw the boy’s coach needed further assistance, he rushed from his own dugout. On his way to home plate, he heard someone from the stands shout, “Call 911!”

While Martin and Prevratil tended to the boy, he slipped out of consciousness. That’s when Prevratil began CPR.

Prevratil said he performed chest compressions for only about 30 seconds before police arrived.

Colonie Police officer Brian Curran was the first on the scene, and he continued CPR for another minute before the EMT team reached the boy with a defribrillator, Colonie Police Lt. Robert Winn said.

The boy’s heart restarted while he still was lying in the batter’s box, Prevratil said, and he was taken away by ambulance.

EMT’s took over using a defibrillator. They resuscitated the boy and rushed him to Albany Medical Center. Cardiologist doctor Jim O’Brian says what happened to the young player is extremely rare.

“He’s the classic age. It occurs in young boys when the pitch is hard but not so hard,” said O’Brian.

O’Brian says that causes agitation of the heart where the ball hits the chest at exactly the wrong time — disrupting the regular heartbeat. The boy, we’re told is lucky to be alive and doing ok.

“He’s got some hurdles to go. The rest of the kids are taking it fairly well. Some are too little to understand,” said Mendrick.

Meanwhile, Mendrick says he’s received emails from little leagues across the country, wishing for a speedy recovery.

His father told NewsChannel 13, the boy is already sitting up and asking when is he going to be back on the field.

Rome Free Academy lacrosse coaches Guy Calandra and Jeremy Roberts were running the lacrosse tryouts for about 50 10th-graders at Fayetteville-Manlius High School , including Sophomore Dan Cochran, when the incident happened at about 6:30 p.m. Calandra said he was about five feet away when he saw Cochran take the blow from the shot.

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Cochran turned his body in anticipation of the contact. The lacrosse ball struck him in the rib cage underneath his chest protector. Calandra said Cochran fell face forward to the ground.

“When I got to look at him, I could just tell,” Calandra said. “I said to him, ‘Hey, are you OK? Look at me. What’s your name?’ He couldn’t respond. I yelled for 911 and Jeremy.”

Cochran’s breathing was labored. Roberts was at the opposite end of the field working with other players. The second time Calandra called his name, Roberts said he knew there was a crisis. He sprinted to the other end of the field to begin CPR on Cochran.

Roberts, 36, has worked as a lifeguard since he was 16 and been a certified trainer for the last five years. Calandra is trained in CPR as well. Calandra began a series of 30 compression pumps on Cochran’s chest. Roberts performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

The mother of another player trying out for the 11th-grade team approached the scene. She said she was a registered nurse and asked Calandra if he needed her to take over. She did and performed a series of compression pumps.

Fayetteville-Manlius High School certified trainer Cyndi Kelder rushed to the scene with a defibrillator. Even though this was not a school event, she had been hired to work the tryouts by Tom Hall, the longtime F-M lacrosse patriarch and the founder of the Upstate Risings event.

Kelder said Cochran had no pulse when she hooked him up to the defibrillator. The machine told her what to do next — apply the pads and shock the player. She did. The blast got Cochran’s heart pumping in rhythm again.

“I’ve been doing this awhile now,” said Kelder. “I’ve never had to open up (the defibrillator) other than checking it and for maintenance. It was one of those moments.”

Sirens from local ambulances and fire trucks wailed in the distance. Multiple rescue trucks pulled onto the field. Roberts kept yelling encouragement to Cochran.

“Hang in there, buddy,” he said. “Hang in there.”

Cochran was beginning to respond. Calandra asked him how he felt. He told the coach his arm was sore. It was a sweet response.

The magnitude of their efforts hit hard later in the night. Calandra said he could barely talk, much less feel. Roberts said he hugged his wife, Becky, and broke into tears. The nurse who assisted on the field broke into tears when she saw her son after tryouts. She said it all hit home. That could have been her son, she said.

F-M boys lacrosse coach Chris Kenneally said he was witness to a tragedy at Hobart some 30 years ago when a player died on the field after being struck in the chest by a shot. He vowed that would never happen again and said the school is vigilant and ready with its supply of defibrillators and trainers.

Hall said had this happened at the Empire State Games, there would have been no trainers or defibrillators because of cost cuts.

“We prepare for this type of thing,” Hall said. “I was so impressed with the (RFA) staff and (F-M) trainer. I’ve seen some serious situations over the years. This has to be at the top of the list.”

“Even though we’re all trained, it was nice to have more hands,” Calandra said. “It went well. It could have been horrible.

“I hope I don’t ever have to do it again, I’ll tell you that.”

Updates

Jamesville-DeWitt High School sophomore Dan Cochran returned to school on Friday, a day after he was released from University Hospital and two days after he was revived by CPR and a defibrillator. He was taken to University Hospital, but released less than a day later with only a bruise and a hospital bracelet as outward signs of how close he’d come to death.

Dan Cochran the Survivor

“He went to shoot, and I tried to turn to get out of the way. It didn’t really work,” Daniel said. “I think I probably took like two steps. I tried to yell, and then I just fell on my face.”

“It hit him at the perfect timing,” said Danielle Boland, Daniel’s mother. “It had stopped his heart.”

Daniel’s father, Sean Boland, has worked for Rural Metro for 20 years and he’s given CPR on the phone hundreds of times. Now, he saw coaches were performing the procedure on his son. “I saw the fire trucks and ambulance and police go by and I said to myself, boy I hope that’s not Daniel,” he said.

Then, a certified athletic trainer jump-started his heart with an automated external defibrillator.

“It worked to perfection, as it should,” said F-M Athletic Director Rich Roy. “Coaches, these are all high school coaches. They’re trained in first aid and CPR and AED.”

Thursday is Danielle Boland’s birthday. She says she’s very grateful for the gift of life being restored to her son. “They brought him back to us. Because, if it wasn’t for them, he wouldn’t be here,” she said.

“It’s kind of mind boggling. One minute I’m on the verge of death and the next minute I’m being discharged,” Daniel Cochran said.

Daniel says he will undoubtedly return to the lacrosse field. “I love the game, I love it,” he said.

A 15-year-old ice hockey player is fighting for his life after a ‘freak’ accident caused him to collapse on the ice when a puck struck him in the chest.

Tyler Symes’s heart stopped but his quick-thinking trainer, a part-time nurse, was luckily able to resuscitate the Milford High School forward on the ice.

Andy Hutson the Saviour

Jodi White has been praised by the teenager’s parents after she dashed on to the rink, reaching him in seconds, before using a portable defibrillator and administering an electric shock to save him.

Paramedics continued to perform CPR, and rushed him to Marlborough Hospital, and then to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.

‘Jodi was outstanding,’ Robert Tremblay, superintendent at Milford High School, said.

He also praised the school’s athletic director, Rich Piergustavo, for providing annual CPR training to the athletic staff.

The incident, which happened on Monday during a game, has left Mr Symes in a critical condition.

However hopes have been raised at UMass Memorial Medical Center, as he can breathe without the use of a ventilator.

His school team were playing Nipmuc Regional High School at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Paul Galipeau, the teenager’s uncle, said: ‘It’s just a freak accident. It’s what they do all year long: play hockey. ‘He got hit with the puck and skated over to the bench, fell down and they administered CPR right there on the ice.

‘I don’t think [the accident] will deter him from getting back out on the ice. Only time will tell.

‘The family’s holding up. It’s a big family, we’ll pull together. Thoughts are with Tyler getting better.’

Hunter Cairns plays high school baseball in Los Alamitos.

Hunter Cairns the Survivor

Last July, Cairns was at bat and attempting to bunt, but the pitch came in low and fast, smacking him hard in the chest.

Cairns’ grandfather, Jack Lee, retired from the Long Beach Fire Department, his grandfather’s friend, Steve Roberts, an active duty fireman with the LBFD, and his dad, Jason, were watching from the third base line and knew it was a wallop.

Cairns ran about 50 feet toward first base and collapsed face down in the dirt.

When the first base coach turned Cairns onto his back, he took one look at Cairns’ face and shouted for someone to call 911.

Lee and Roberts rushed to Cairns. They ripped open his shirt to look for broken ribs, but saw none. Lee started chest compressions while Roberts performed rescue breaths.

When paramedics arrived, they told the men to continue performing CPR while they began defibrillation.

After the first shock, Cairns started breathing on his own. He was taken to a hospital, where he regained consciousness 17 hours later.

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Will Orndorff the Survivor

Senior Will Orndorff’s chest met sophomore Shelden Stickley’s head as both went for a fly ball in the outfield during practice March 31 at Sandy Hook Elementary School’s fields.

While Stickley suffered a concussion, Orndorff had to be airlifted to Winchester Medical Center. He had suffered a rare condition known as commotio cordis, in which the heart’s rhythm becomes irregular.

Luckily for Orndorff, a coach performed manual CPR until rescue workers arrived and shocked his heart.

Orndorff is doing well and plans to go to Bridgewater College in the fall and play football, his father said.

“You would never know anything ever happened,” Jack Orndorff said. “Everybody’s quick action from the coaches to the rescue squad to the helicopter, and everybody involved in the hospital, everybody was very proactive. Everything we’ve been told was everything had to work together and it did, and he was very fortunate.”